[greymule]

I think there are two separate issues involved. One is how do we treat actual violence visited upon officials; the other is what kind of player, coach, and spectator behavior is tolerated and what is not.

It is illegal to punch someone in the nose. It is not illegal to yell, "Open your eyes, you blind SOB." However, whereas screaming, "You're a bum!" at a violinist who misses a note at Carnegie Hall will get you thrown out and possibly arrested, yelling it at an umpire in Yankee Stadium will barely get you noticed. So what kind of behavior should get you thrown out of the park in Little League, high school, American Legion, etc.? I have seen parents thrown out of Little League parks for saying—not yelling—"C'mon ump, you gotta call 'em both ways."

In terms of the violence, I believe that attacks on officials should be punished just like attacks on anyone else. Close game, raw emotions, long afternoon, etc., are not excuses. But assault and battery is assault and battery. The penalty should not be greater for punching an official than for punching somebody's grandmother. As regards fights between players, the law recognizes that in most cases, punches thrown during the heat of a game are not treated as if they were thrown on the street.

"Zero tolerance" sounds good, but where has that policy led us? Kindergartners are suspended from school for pointing their fingers are yelling, "Bang!" on the playground. Perfectly law-abiding, conscientious school kids are suspended when a school administrator catches them with a Tylenol tablet. On college campuses, students have been held to be in violation of zero tolerance "hate speech" codes because they disagreed with somebody's political opinion (i.e., said something politically incorrect).

A friend of mine used to referee high school basketball. His career was ended in 1982 when a "fan" blind-sided him with a punch from behind as he left for the dressing room at the end of the game. I'm not sure what happened to the assailant or if they even identified him, but the last I heard, my friend was still trying to collect some kind of damages.

[Edited by greymule on Oct 31st, 2002 at 11:51 AM]